“You can’t say WHAT inspires you to write. It could be something you’ve seen; something subconscious… it’s up to people to decide WHAT the songs are about. They have to form their own impressions. I don’t write about anything in particular. It’s all subconscious stuff. Scribble…sometimes feelings or things that pop into your head. Does that sound pretentious?”

In what amounted to a moment in time…just a moment in time..

"Unknown Pleasures"1979

…and then it ended

"Closer"1980

But the band’s most enduring legacy is the perceptive and heartbreaking view of love gone cold but with all the regret of holding on…

"Why is the bedroom so cold? You've turned away on your side. Is my timing that flawed? Our respect runs so dry. Yet there's still this appeal That we've kept through our lives."

"Everyone's living in their own little world. When I was 15 or 16 at school, I used to talk with my mates and we'd say: 'As soon as we leave, we'll be down in London, doing something nobody else is doing.' Then I used to work in a factory, and I was really happy because I could daydream all day. All I had to do was push this wagon with cotton things in it up and down. But I didn't have to think. I could think about the weekend, imagine what I was going to spend my money on, which LP I was going to buy... You can live in your own little world."

Even though I heard the "Substance" version first--more on when I first heard this and that later--it's the Unknown Pleasures take that is the hands-down winner. If I were in a London nightclub circa 1979, I'd go with the single version.

I'd also be curious to know when JD fans discovered the band. How old you were, when and where it was. Set the scene, movie lovers!

No, I wasn't there. In fact, to my shame I never have been to England. But to me it has always been a magical place, mainly in the musical sense... like the way a kid thinks of Disneyland. When the Missus and I finally have the ways and means to do some really proper, substantial travelling, I want it to be our first stop. She's already been, but that's not going to deter me.

In my neck of the woods, the only JD that got any attention was (as one would imagine) "Love Will Tear Us Apart". I bought it not knowing about the recent tragedy. Back then I tended to buy anything new that seemed interesting, because I was ravenous for widening my tastes. Only later on did I do any reading about them and learned just how terribly things had come to pass.

So apart from the single, I ended up with "Still" and then, later on, the original "Substance" CD. So I'm certainly no expert, by any means. But not having every last thing they recorded does not make Curtis' passing any less affecting to me. It seem almost unimaginable, the horror he went through. And they rest of the group seem to still feel such a heavy weight on their shoulders that they didn't see more clearly back then just what could be done.

I visited London in 2010 but I have yet to venture to other parts of the country.

I was 17 in 1988 so "Substance" was also my introduction to Joy Division. Unknown Pleasures and Closer were not issued on CD in the US until April or May 1989 which was like Christmas to me at the time; I anxiously awaited their arrival. I remember ordering them at my local "independent" record store, which had a fantastic LP and CD import section. Like many teens into so-called underground music, JD was virtually unknown so I became known as the Joy Division guy at that store. In fact, I didn't know anyone in southern Florida except a close friend of mine who knew who they were. There's so much more awareness with the internet and pop culture continually feeding on itself.

The group Swans covered LWTUA and I later became a big fan of theirs, but NOT of their rendition of the song.

I never saw that "Control" movie, nor would I ever. I also grabbed the three available books on the band and memorized the "legend" as it were. Any time I saw a Joy Division pin ("badge" to you Euro folk), post card, LP, magazine article, b__tleg or anything else, I bought it though I really didn't have all that much stuff in retrospect; the music was always the thing for me. I hadn't listened to them in decades (no pun intended) until recently. It all holds up perfectly. Ian's lyrics mean all the more to me and he really had a prescient view of relationships at such an early age, back when people were expected to become adults before they were forty, I guess. It is the musical output that impresses all the more now, as Sumner, Hook, and Morris are all exemplary musicians.

More ruminations and reminiscences to follow, even if only you are tuning in!

Edit: I read Deborah Curtis' book five or so years ago. I usually refrain from dwelling on Ian's suicide but I read her description of that scene and was haunted by it. It's a good book and still widely available.

I'd also be curious to know when JD fans discovered the band. How old you were, when and where it was. Set the scene, movie lovers!

It was very recently for me. Before the film Control was released (2007 for those counting) I moved in with a best friend who is a BIG Joy Division fan. When the trailer for the movie came around we watched it and then we listened to Joy Division constantly. I'm 26 now, and I don't think Joy Division is not without their worth as I get older. Curtis' voice is singular, the bandmates (especially lead guitarist Bernard Sumner) all played their parts masterfully, and their influence is still felt throughout even the best of young musicians today. And their great to dance along with a real babe by your side.

Love the Unknown Pleasures image on the wall as well as Bernard Sumner's impeccably rolled-up sleeves! JD was always impressive live in the studio, with their second Peel Sessions absolutely tremendous.

On a less-intense note, The Jam also appeared on this program. Their song "Eton Rifles" is introduced by a cute blonde with a charming Mancunian accent.

I'd also be curious to know when JD fans discovered the band. How old you were, when and where it was. Set the scene, movie lovers!

It was very recently for me. Before the film Control was released (2007 for those counting) I moved in with a best friend who is a BIG Joy Division fan. When the trailer for the movie came around we watched it and then we listened to Joy Division constantly. I'm 26 now, and I don't think Joy Division is not without their worth as I get older. Curtis' voice is singular, the bandmates (especially lead guitarist Bernard Sumner) all played their parts masterfully, and their influence is still felt throughout even the best of young musicians today. And their great to dance along with a real babe by your side.

In "my day" at least, anyone who liked bands like JD kept it a secret unless they happened upon another like minded fan, of course. I have some (hilarious) pictures of me from that time during the height of my Joy Division obsession. My moodiness was genuine but I can look back with a degree of amusement, but not when it comes to their music. It's more meaningful and interesting now than when I first heard it twenty-five years ago.

I really respect Joy Division, but I have always been a bigger New Order-fan than JD-fan. "True Faith" is the perfect pop song.

A pity the relationship between Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook completely soured a few years ago.

24 Hour Party People and Control are both good movies.

This thread is just as much a New Order thread as it is Joy Division, so feel free to comment on either.

I like New Order up up to Power Corruption and Lies* After that, not so much. I particularly enjoy Movement" (1981) which is probably how Joy Division would have sounded had Ian Curtis lived. Maybe not the sound of their third album, but certainly after that. I adore that first New Order album.

"Doubts Even Here"

Very Joy Division-like, isn't it?

"I.C.B."

*I originally wrote I liked "Low-Life", but that is when they really changed, so scratch that.